It has been a while since I read a dystopian romance and I can say that it was different from the usual genres I read. I liked this world and the characters in it. I think I’ll be looking into more in this genre and from this author. The writing style was really good and it held my attention. I really liked the Hunter vs hunted aspect, it’s awesome when the lamb bests the wolf. The sibling bond was a really nice aspect and I’m ready for more from Luka.

The Hungar Games-ish but make it gay and add the effects of climate change and what if Amazon took over society. Ava Reid doesn’t miss (although I could have done witb significantly less lip biting).

I won't lie, the middle was a bit harder to get through than I'd have liked, mostly because I got the arc during the end of a semester and I couldn't sit and read straight through. Having to stop to be a responsible person delayed me. But today, I sat down and read fully the last 40% almost in one go.

This book is tragic and hopeful all at once. Though I was afraid that it wouldn't sell me on the romance at first, I came to truly understand it. This book is more than that, though, because a teenage romance born during traumatic events may not last, but the changes in perspective for both girls will.

Those who want endings that are tied up in pretty little bows aren't going to like this ending, but I adore it. The author left clues that the hope Inesa feels isn't unfounded. I am reminded of the ending to Your Name.

Black Mirror and Hunger Games have a beautiful sapphic baby.
This story takes place in a unique environment that has a strong capitalistic hierarchy with an extra dose of bloody spectacle. I'm typically not thrilled by stories where someone from the lower class falls in love with someone of the oppressing class but I feel like Ava Reid writes this version of the trope extremely well. A key element is definitely that the character sent from the upper class has realized that they are just as trapped and controlled as the most marginalized, they simply have the privilege of a more comfortable cell. There was definitely an omen like quality to the story in regards to the effects of climate change under capitalism.
I loved the way the characters interacted with each other in this dystopian world, and the nuanced take that even the most dystopian world is just someone's regular world. I thought so many details of the environment were beautiful additions to the story.
I found the plot of the story to be intriguing and I had no idea how the story would end until we got to it.

this book was everything younger dystopian era me would LOVE. it put me on such a rollercoaster emotionally i was constantly stressed then relieved over and over again all i wanted was for inesa and melinoë to be happy for more than 5 seconds. it was scary reading it and seeing how despite it being fictional, a lot of the elements in it seemed so possible to happen in the future. from the climate change to the system of caerus to just how people treated each other in day to day life, it all seems so distantly possible but gave the book an even more realistic world. i desperately wanted a happy ending for these two and even if we didn’t exactly get it im still so satisfied with how it ended (even if it HURTS). nothing to complain about for this sapphic dystopian novel and i hope to see more like it in the future !!!

Ya'll, I was not prepared for this book. Ava Reid's homage to the Hunter Games is on another level. I won't mince words. This story is dark with a capital D. Which could be a challenging read for the YA reader in your life who is not used to dystopian/non HEA ending. But it could also be the fantastic first stop on the journey to that genre. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Ava Reid has been a favorite author of mine for some time now, but this book absolutely knocks it out of the park! The world, the characters, the atmosphere -- everything is amazing.

Perhaps no one is more disappointed about this book than me so far. I have to start with my obligatory disclaimer that I am a huge Ava Reid fan. A Study in Drowning and The Wolf and the Woodsman are some of the best books I've read in the past year. Despite all the criticism, I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Macbeth, even through its flaws. All of this is to say, I went into this book expecting to love it, as per usual with Reid's books, and was truly shocked to find myself trudging through and feeling wholly disconnected from the story being told. I will keep this mostly spoiler-free, only including bits that are in the blurb or are revealed within the first few chapters!

This is a YA dystopia book with a dual narrative following Inesa and Melinoë, two young girls on opposing sides of a debt-based society. Inesa runs a struggling taxidermy shop with her brother until her mother nominates her for the Lamb’s Gauntlet, a televised assassination gameshow with its contestant being the unlucky child of an overly-indebted adult. The goal for Inesa is to survive 13 days while being hunted by the other main character, Melinoë, a genetically and mechanically enhanced superhuman designed to kill. Melinoë is an “Angel” created by the governing corporation Caerus to be a debt-collecting killing machine. However, this Gauntlet takes an unexpected turn, placing both Inesa and Melinoë in circumstances they never would have imagined.

I want to start with what I think is one of the biggest problems overall, which is how heavily this book is marketed as being similar to The Hunger Games, with the author even stating in the foreword that this novel is heavily inspired by the aforementioned trilogy. The problem is that, as far as I'm concerned, The Hunger Games is one of the best trilogies ever written, and I consider each book a masterpiece. I truly feel that you are setting yourself up for failure when putting yourself next to one of the (if not THE) most highly acclaimed dystopian works of all time. When reading, I did indeed notice that Fable for the End of the World takes clear inspiration from The Hunger Games, with the deathmatch style “game”, the bleak and heavily controlled society, the strong female main character(s), sibling bonds, consumerism, and commentary on real-world media consumption, however, these elements only feel cheap and uninspired compared to its predecessor. These elements are not presented and analyzed in a thorough, engaging, or meaningful way here, with each point feeling preachy at best and incomplete at worst. I know this is vague, but there is not enough substance here. Each subject or plot point this book tries to cover feels half-baked and like we aren’t getting a complete and fulfilling experience, only surface-level ideas and underdeveloped relationships. Side note, I've also seen this book marketed as similar to The Last of Us, but I’m not seeing the comparison here. The only thing I can see being related is the zombie-like creatures, but if anything they seem closer to the wendigos from Until Dawn, though I suppose that game isn’t as much of a marketable comparison. But to me, the comparison with The Last of Us just seems like a cheap grab at something popular and should be disregarded.

Continuing the comparisons to The Hunger Games, something that made that trilogy so effective was how convincing and compelling each character was. The extreme and brutal worlds in each book need to be matched with well-crafted characters to sell the intense emotions invoked by those brutal situations, and I did not feel that Fable was successful in this. Both Inesa and Melinoë were very basic and boiled down, to where they didn't have any nuance or relatability for me to grab onto. Inesa is very innocent and kind in a world that values selfishness, her mother mistreats her, she loves her brother, and she is a taxidermist. That's about as much as I got from her because that's all the book ever plays off of. Melinoë is at least a bit more complex and interesting, with the whole enhanced superhuman assassin concept. She is cold and calculated, and she has been mistreated and groomed by the people who turned her into an Angel, though she has no memory of it due to the repeated memory wipes they enforce upon her. This is an incredible premise for her character, leading to what should be thorough and deep internal development by Melinoë where she understands and comes to terms with what her creators turned her into and what they force her to do. However, I never felt like her character arc lived up to the potential it could have. She would faintly reflect on the fact that what was done to her was wrong, but she never had a strong cathartic realization like I was hoping for. My complaint with both characters boils down to the fact that there just wasn’t enough oomph to them. I never connected with their emotions, felt interested in their personality traits, or rooted for either of them in any capacity.

I have a handful of additional complaints that I either can’t get into because they go into spoiler territory or because I just don’t have much to say about them. To start with my non-descript spoiler critiques, I found the events that pushed the plot forward to be highly unbelievable and because of that doubt in the feasibility of the situations, it ended up impeding my enjoyment of the situations that followed. I also did not care for the ending and it felt like a lot of the mysteries in this book were either barely answered or not answered at all. Unless there’s a surprise unannounced sequel, I think it was poorly done. Surprisingly, the writing style really irked me here, despite being one of my highest points of praise with Ava Reid’s previous novels. I started to notice this first in Lady Macbeth as well, but the writing style feels overly pretentious in this novel. Ava Reid’s aesthetic for her previous work gives this romantic, gothic, and folkloric way with her words, which makes sense given that they are gothic fantasy novels. However, this style continues into this book, but it heavily clashes with the industrialist and barren setting of this world. When it goes for the typical ‘vines are growing in my ribcage and my heart is rotted like old damp wood’ type thing, it normally works because of how well it meshes with the setting and aesthetic, but here it clashes too heavily and only comes across as jarring and obnoxious. Also, if I have to read another line about a man parting a woman’s legs as a metaphor for / an example of the man being slimy and gross, I’m going to lose my mind. It worked the first time I read it, but not the countless times the line has been used since.

Now after all that criticizing, I think I need to explain why I didn’t just give it 1 star and move on, because this book does deserve praise for a few things. First, I appreciate the bold move from Reid to write a book that is so different from her previous works. Clearly, the romantic and whimsical style of her fantasy novels has worked well for her and given her commercial success. To branch out and try something new (even if I didn't think it was successful) is respectable, and I did enjoy getting to read an Ava Reid book with a plot and setting completely different than what she has provided in the past.

Content-wise, I appreciated the commentary this book provided on the dehumanization and vulgarity of the internet. As a girl who grew up both chronically online and very involved in the video game space, I am no stranger to how horrifying the internet can be, particularly how certain groups treat women. I’ve experienced the comments and vitriol firsthand, and know how disgusting and dehumanizing it can feel. The portrayal of live-streamers, commenters, and general online objectification of women is spot-on and can be genuinely gutwrenching with how accurate it is. I really loved this aspect of the book, and if it had leaned more into this commentary on media consumption and how toxic and dissociative the internet can make us, I think it could have been much more successful in my eyes.

So, with all these thoughts going through my head after I finished this book, I was conflicted about how to rate it. Throughout my whole time reading it, I was trying to put a positive spin on everything, telling myself I always love Ava Reid’s books and I should here too. In the end, though, I had to ask myself: What did I even enjoy about this? What did I get from this reading experience? The answer is not much—certainly not enough to warrant a positive rating or review. Though this was a very negative reading experience, I don’t feel that it was a waste of my time and it doesn’t change that Ava Reid will still be an author I always check out, though I may have more reservations than I used to. Who knows, all of this may have been a me problem, and I did think this had some strong aspects, so I still recommend giving it a try when it comes out next year!

I really, really, wanted to like this. I fully expected to. And while this definitely wasn’t a bad book, I’m still walking away kind of disappointed because it was more mediocre than anything.

The premise sounds like a golden set up and I was super excited to see Reid try out the dystopian genre. The problem is though, this didn’t really bring anything new to the genre to make it memorable. I wouldn’t have cared much if the book had been as interesting as the description made it sound, but every time I put it down I was less and less compelled to pick it back up. Don’t get me wrong, it still had its entertaining parts, but it lacked the suspense that I thought it needed.

The writing also didn’t have the usual Ava Reid quality that I’ve seen in her other works. Usually the writing is packed with an atmosphere that sucks you in immediately and doesn’t let you go until the end, but in this one the writing felt very standard YA book to me. That’s not to say it was bad, it just wasn’t on the level her writing usually is.

The romance also didn’t really work for me because I had a hard time believing it. The transition from enemies to lovers wasn’t paced the way I had hoped for, so it wound up feeling sort of flat to me.

There are a lot of things in this book I can say I felt pretty neutral about, but the ending wasn’t one of them — I’m sorry but I absolutely hated it. It was one of those that makes you turn the page and go “where’s the rest?”

Overall, this definitely wasn’t as amazing as I had expected it to be, but those looking for an entertaining dystopia will still probably be able to enjoy it.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Ok, so I was battling between a 3 star and 4 star but leaning heavily into 4. Ava Reid has been a bit polarizing for me. I loved A Study in Drowning but havent gotten the same high with her other works. This really could have gone either way. Happy to say I did really enjoy Fable-- I just wish there had been a more substantial ending. While this has been touted as a stand alone...it certainly didn't feel like it. Also, this could have been a magnificent Adult novel, though I understand wanting to get that representation of a Sapphic couple into a dwindling (and probably soon to be banned) library for our youth. These stories are important and Ava Reid is a great story teller.

The messages on our probably impending future due to capitalism (and the high overlords being companies), torture-porn voyeurism, and commodification of women were not terribly subtle, but I personally don't need them to be. I think this was done well, and the ending, while having a smidgen of hope, is realistic in it's bitterness.

While our two leads were both interesting, I do believe Melinoë stole the show. Her backstory and tragedy felt palpable. Inesa fell a bit flat for me and I was more interested in Luka and even Azrael in terms of characterization and wanting to know more about them. (Ugh, now I feel a bit like her mother. Sorry, Inesa!) I think this is a testament to Reid creating a super rich cast of characters.

Tore through this very quickly and only at 90% through was I starting to get worried about the ending. It truly does seem like it's supposed to be a series or even just a duology. Maybe we will see an addition one day?
Reid has some really lovely bits of writing:

<i>*All my other systems have collapsed, except for this one. I'll always be able to find my way back to her.</i>

<i>*Maybe it is. Maybe I've survived this long so I could know how it feels to hold her. Maybe all my life has been one long gauntlet, running, fighting, searching for her.</i>

<i>*It's a privilege, really, to desire, to imagine, to believe.</i>

Really enjoyed! I pre ordered the special edition, and am happy to have it coming my way.

Written with love, read from an arc. ❤️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A game of cat and mouse turns into something more in this dystopian YA.
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A fantastically fun and moving read. Perhaps a bit slower in the middle as the action takes a back seat, this story still manages to keep a great pace and entertain throughout. I love the dystopian world that is built up, especially with its parallels to our actual world (re: our climate crisis, technology dependence, rampant misogyny, and so on).
[Content warnings at the end]

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Melinöe, the unsmiling assassin, and Inesa, the taxidermist-turned-survivalist, are an unlikely pair for this action-packed queer romance, but they work so well with the unique plot and are extremely easy to root for. I especially appreciate Mel’s character arc given the nuances of her human-not-human character.

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reid has proven herself a commendable writer. The dark ambience, the subtle world building, and the believable dialogue are functional pieces to a beautiful puzzle. Reid also has necessary commentary on the current state of our natural, technological, and social world that blends well into the action-based plot.

Recommended to fans of the Hunger Games and other similar dystopians.
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[Content warnings: homophobia; misogyny; violence; sexual violence; parental abuse]

Firstly, I want to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins publishing for giving me the opportunity to read an E-ARC of Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid!

Ava Reid is one of my all-time favorite authors and I have read almost all of her books now, and Fable for the End of the World really solidified for me, that I will truly love anything Reid writes—time and time again I am blown away by how stunning her novels are, I have never been disappointed by anything with her name on it. So, if you are like me and love Reid’s work, the answer is yes, yes you should pick up Fable when it is published!

There were so many things that I absolutely adored about Fable but I’m gonna start by voicing how accessible and inclusive this novel is, especially when considering it is for a YA audience. Reid was able to create a dystopian world that is so vivid and horrific without weighing down the plot with heavy or clunky details—everything was crafted so smoothly and I was never lost, confused or bored while reading about this abstract, absurd and awful setting. This novel sheds light on so many issues that we are dealing with today and it does so in a way that is so eloquent and raw—I can see young audiences being deeply inspired and moved by the things discussed in Fable and that is a triumph in and of itself. The queer representation in Fable also must be talked about because it is a stunning exploration of sapphic love seen through the wondrous and hopeful eyes of two very strong girls.

Melinoë and Inesa are two female characters crafted so perfectly for a YA dystopian book like Fable because they help readers see the beauty of love, hope and defiance even in the face of some very scary things. By the end of this novel both girls felt like they were knit into my soul, as their experiences and relationship simultaneously healed me and broke me all at once. Fable is definitely a book for people who want to have a good cry, so be warned! I went through many tissues, but it was so worth all of the pain and wonder.

Like all of Reid’s books, Fable includes some of THEE most stunning prose found in the fantastical/dystopian genre—her writing blows me away all of the time, but Fable especially had moments of self-exploration told by and about the characters that included breathtaking diction which tugged at my heart strings greatly. This wonderful writing also needs to be mentioned in the context of the ending, which for me, was wildly breathtaking, heartbreaking and perfect.

Fable is definitely a book meant for YA audiences, it has a YA feel and is paced quite fast, with a level of simplicity that is easy to consume and love. Just don’t expect this novel to read like Reid’s adult novels or even like her other YA release A Study In Drowning-Fable is widely different and feels a lot less intricate.

Overall, Fable for the End of the World, was a thrilling reading experience and one that I found deeply emotionally in many ways, I would HIGHLY recommend checking it out!

Just wow. This book is easily going into my top 10 favorite reads of the year — probably even higher. This gave me all of the early 2010’s dystopian vibes that I’ve so desperately missed, and delivered it brilliantly.

The sapphic dystopian romance of it all was impossible to put down, and I’m going to need it to turn into a series. I could read 10+ books of this, truly. I haven’t had a feeling this strong about the potential of a book in a long time. The ending had me yelling.

Ava Reid has secured the auto-buy author status for me. Trust me — Fable For The End Of The World is going to do numbers. So fast-paced, heartbreaking, and suspenseful. 11/10.

(BookTok review coming)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion!

WOW!!!! I knew Ava Reid was GOOD going into this book, but did I realize how good?!? Apparently not! My heart ached, I laughed, I cried, I basically felt all the emotions on the spectrum in a 24 hour period. I seriously could not put this book down, I raced to finish it even as I knew the ending would break my heart into a million pieces. AND IT DID! Would I still recommend this beautiful and tragic sapphic romance to anyone that would listen? Absolutely. The characters, the writing style, the eerie feeling that our world could one day become like Mel and Inesa's...it was worth it all! I can only hope that we get a follow-up to this wonderful book one day, and even if we don't, I will keep that beautiful sense of certainty and hopeful longing that Ava Reid crafted so beautifully in the final pages of this book.

This was a fun read, but I wasn’t majorly impressed by it. It’s a good dystopian novel, and there were a few lines and parts of the book that really stood out to me. But, overall, I feel like the pacing was a little off, so I didn’t feel a ton of tension. The romance was way too fast. They went from “I’m trying to kill you’ to “I love you” in about 30% - 40% of the book, which meant I didn’t really care. Sometimes, it feels like books are trying too hard to be the next Hunger Games when I think they would really benefit from just being their own thing. While this was a fun read, I think it could have been better.

That being said, if you love dystopian novels, queer characters, and portrayals of how far the media can go, pick this one up!


Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for providing me this ARC!

Okay ava reid books are my instant read cause her books mostly fits me.

And she's releasing a dystopian book with sapphic romance like i'm so sold!

Well... after reading it i think it was ok but it didn't really meet my expectations i guess...

I like the creatures in this book how they are mutated animals with grotesque features i think it's pretty cool! And i like how she writes the complex family dynamic in this book. I think she excels on writing that aspect.

I like the Gaunlet's concept its kinda similar to Hunger Games but not really...

Also it's a bummer that the Caerus Corporation plotline feels ike it doesn't get explored as much that i was hoping for.. and i really want to know more about them

And for the romance.... well Inesa and Melinoë 's dynamic started off strong. It explains how they are in different sides and are enemies

But by the middle of the book it gets way too rushed... if there's one rule of enemies to lovers in my opinion it has to be slow burned.. there has to be times for yearning and tension

And the ending i also didn't like it that much.... yk i'm pretty sure this book is supposed to be a standalone but... yeah the ending feels very open for a sequel

So yeah if you are looking for a dystopian book that is quite fast pace and easy to read check out this book!

"Fable for the End of the World" is set in a not-too-distant, disturbingly-familiar future in which both capitalism and climate change have continued their courses, unfettered, and everyone outside of the city-elites lives in a half-drowned countryside, amassing debt either helplessly or carelessly or both. Eventually debts must be paid, in an incomprehensibly brutal way, as medically engineered assassins--Angels--hunt down and murder relatives offered up by the debtors as payment--the Lambs--all live-streamed.

An unlikely bond forms between an Angel, Melinoë, and a Lamb, Inesa, who find themselves unexpectedly allied against a hostile environment. The world they inhabit is treacherous and controlled at every turn by a malicious mega-corporation, but might there be a glimmer of hope for the two of them?

The world Reid creates is haunting. The oppressiveness of life under the Caerus corporation is palpable. The book raises so many questions about attention economy and corporate power/greed and the environment, but at its core, it asks, can one light chase away a sea of darkness? Can love prevail in the face of great evil?

This is one you won't want to stop reading until the end, and that will stay with you after--I highly recommend, along with every book I've read thus far by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of Fable For The End of the World. This was quite a striking and timely read post-election. As someone who grew up reading lots of dystopian fiction, this is certainly a powerful ode to those stories and the ability to find hope in bleak circumstances. I loved the concept of The Gauntlet and the way that Reid structured New Amsterdam as a society. It cleverly echoes the dynamics that are already present in our own society while using them to create something else. The world building in this novel is certainly its strong suit. In terms of plot, however, I did find Fable somewhat lacking. With books like The Hunger Games, it feels like so much happens so quickly. With this novel, the plot felt a little slow and somewhat unrealistic given what we know about Caerus. Additionally, while I loved Inesa and Melinoë as characters, the romance between them felt rushed and incomplete. Despite these qualms, however, Fable was a very quick read for me as I was so invested in finding out what end awaited Inesa and Melinoë. While it’s not the strongest dystopian story you’ll ever read, its story of love and hope is one worth hearing in these times.

This was a love letter to all of the millennials who grew up reading the Hunger Games and this book delivered! It was dark, emotional, and devastatingly beautiful. I think what really made me fall in love with this story was how nostalgic it made me feel. It brought me back to my teenage years and I felt like I was right in the thick of it with Inesa and Melinoë.

The dystopian genre always intrigues me because when reading it always makes me wonder “what if.” I was captivated from the very beginning and loved the complex relationship between Inesa and her family, as well as the relationship that develops between her and Melinoë. At the core of these dark stories, there is a sliver of light and it always comes down to love.

Thank you to Harper Collins for this eARC!

I’d recommend Fable for the End of the World to anyone who loves or loved dystopian future. Reading this set the gears in my brain going a thousand miles a minute and was a nice change from my typical fantasy reads. If you want to be on the edge of your seat while your heart is ripped out of your chest, read this book.
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In chapter one, readers are introduced to Inesa, a teen girl slogging through her drowning city, earning money for her mother to to spend on useless items from a monopolistic corporation, Caerus.
Melinoë is introduced in chapter two as an Angel, a biologically-enhanced ruthless killer used in entertainment games called The Gauntlet. Through both points of view, readers are able to take in a multitude of minute details about this society. In Inesa’s location, we see how something as instinctual as neighborly kindness is a risk for these individuals and Melinoë’s world highlights just how people at the top of the food chain benefit from those in poverty. After the first chapters do a phenomenal job of worldbuilding, the next two chapters dive into The Gauntlet, a "game" of sorts in which people deeply in debt can offer up a family member to serve as a Lamb and nullify a debt. For the Lamb, their goal is to outrun or otherwise defeat the Angel
sent by Caerus to kill them. However, it's extremely rare. These Gauntlets are livestreamed for the nation of New Amsterdam to watch in horror or in fascination.
Many small moments of these characters' stories had me taking a step back and thinking critically. This was a wildly engaging read, but don't mistake that for
"fun". This was thought-provoking and, at times, heartbreaking.
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The only part that disappointed me was the last 15% of the plot, but I consider that a personal opinion and not a reflection of quality. Personally, I felt like the last part of the book felt unresolved and it left me feeling unsatisfied after rooting for the characters for so long.
In terms of the plot and final thoughts, I'd say those criteria put the book in the range of 3-4 stars. For the character development, writing style, worldbuilding, interest, I'd give this book 5 stars. It's just such an interesting, thought-provoking read. So I'm compromising with 4.5 stars overall.
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Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Ava Reid for this DRC! This was one of my most-anticipated books on my TBR and I was beyond thrilled to be approved for this.